Emerging Topics in Cachexia

A special issue of Cells (ISSN 2073-4409).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2025 | Viewed by 485

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Cancer Metabolism Research Group, Department of Cell and Tissue Biology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of São Paulo, São Paulo 05508-900, Brazil
Interests: muscle loss; inflammation; cachexia; sarcopenia; body composition

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Cachexia has a deadly impact on disease prognostics, although it continues to be underdiagnosed and does not have an established treatment protocol. Cancer cachexia syndrome is mainly characterized by involuntary body weight loss due to anorexia and skeletal muscle and adipose tissue wasting. This Special Issue aims to publish selected articles related to new strategies to mitigate cachexia, studies that seek to identify the optimum treatment timing, the results of innovative therapies, and new biomarkers, and research that helps to elucidate this intricate syndrome. Furthermore, thoughtful reviews that bring together the most recent evidence on cachexia are welcome.

Dr. Gabriela Salim Ferreira De Castro
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • cachexia
  • skeletal muscle loss
  • adipose tissue loss
  • inflammation
  • sarcopenia
  • cancer
  • body composition
  • biomarkers

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

18 pages, 2478 KiB  
Article
Concurrent Physical Activity Protects Against C26 Adenocarcinoma Tumor-Mediated Cardiac and Skeletal Muscle Dysfunction and Wasting in Males
by Louisa Tichy, Kimberly F. Allred, Erika T. Rezeli, Michael F. Coleman, Clinton D. Allred, Stephen D. Hursting and Traci L. Parry
Cells 2025, 14(12), 924; https://doi.org/10.3390/cells14120924 - 18 Jun 2025
Viewed by 351
Abstract
Muscle loss unresponsive to nutritional supplementation affects up to 80% of cancer patients and severely reduces survival and treatment response. Exercise may help preserve muscle mass and function, yet the translatability of preclinical methods remains questionable. This study aimed to assess how voluntary [...] Read more.
Muscle loss unresponsive to nutritional supplementation affects up to 80% of cancer patients and severely reduces survival and treatment response. Exercise may help preserve muscle mass and function, yet the translatability of preclinical methods remains questionable. This study aimed to assess how voluntary wheel running, a clinically relevant physical activity, protects skeletal and cardiac muscle against cancer-mediated dysfunction and identify underlying molecular mechanisms. Methods: BALB/c mice were assigned to sedentary nontumor-bearing (SED+NT), sedentary tumor-bearing (SED+T), wheel run nontumor-bearing (WR+NT), and wheel run tumor-bearing (WR+T). Tumor-bearing groups received 5 × 105 C26 cells; WR mice had wheel access for 4 weeks. Muscle function and tissue were analyzed for protective mechanisms. Results: SED+T mice exhibited significant fat and lean mass loss, indicating cachexia, which was prevented in WR+T mice. SED+T also showed 15% reduced grip strength and cardiac dysfunction, while WR+T preserved function. WR+T mice had lower expression of muscle wasting markers (Atrogin1, MuRF1, GDF15, GDF8/11). Physical activity also reduced tumor mass by 57% and volume by 37%. Conclusion: Voluntary wheel running confers tumor-suppressive, myoprotective, and cardioprotective effects. These findings support physical activity as a non-pharmacological strategy to combat cancer-related muscle wasting and dysfunction. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Emerging Topics in Cachexia)
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